Q & A with Alan Behr

My next victim up on the blocks is an ex- member of law enforcement and an attorney… please give a great big hello to Mr. Alan Behr!

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What would your bio say?

Alan Behr is an American author and attorney. He served as a law enforcement officer for twelve years before earning a law degree from Baylor University. He worked as a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney for twenty-two years, retiring from the State of Texas in 2009.

He has traveled to several European and Middle Eastern countries, Alaska and almost every island in the Caribbean while employed as a special deputy US Marshal and for pleasure. While contracted to US military forces, he resided in Berlin, Germany for two years. Alan and his wife, Lillian, currently live in the Austin, Texas area.

When did you start writing and why?

I began writing after I retired. As a detective and an attorney, I spent a fair amount of time writing reports, and legal documents. Writing crime fiction seemed to me to be a logical next step.

I use a lot of my own experiences – cases I worked as a police officer and attorney – to create plots and characters for my books. So I hope to author a series of novels that readers find to be very realistic.

Traditional or Self publishing? Why?

At the present time, I’m self-published. Being a new author, I believe traditional publishers and literary agents were reluctant to invest their time and energy in a ‘new guy’.

Talk about your journey into the wide world of publishing

I began writing my first manuscript in 2009. After several revisions and submitting it to a great professional editor, Price of Justice was born in 2011. I published it on October 2012. The entire writing/editing process was one of the biggest learning experiences of my life.

But the hardest part would be the marketing aspect. From initial reviews, I knew I had a solid thriller in Price of Justice but I quickly learned that unless readers knew the book was on Amazon and other retailers, sales would lag. So I watched and learned how other successful self-publishers like Rebecca Forster and Amanda Hocking did it.

Tell us about your book (s)

My first published novel, Price of Justice, follows Austin PD Detective Jason Scarsdale as he works to solve two sex-related murders. H enlists the help of Dani Mueller, a police crime analyst who plays a dangerous game of deception while hiding a deadly secret of her own.

Scarsdale faces the ethical dilemma of his career and his life when two corrupt police managers and the killer raise the stake, forcing him to rethink the value of playing by the rules.

What inspired you to write these books (or in this genre)?

I wrote in this genre because of my experience with crime, police, attorneys and criminals.

Tell us why we should love or hate your main character?

There are actually two main characters: Jason Scarsdale and Dani Mueller. The reader should appreciate both because each one struggles to work through some fairly serious problems they encounter professionally and personally. I think the manner in which they do this and their journey will make the reader love them. One reader wrote to me and said that she abhorred the crimes Dani committed but understood why she did it and came away from the book, really liking her.

Scarsdale, on the other hand, should invoke a lot of sympathy because he’s trying so hard to be a good single parent for his young daughter while struggling to solve the murder of someone else’s daughter.

Do you have an audio book version?

The audio version of Price of Justice will be out sometime in February.